Molestation began with swims, boy testifies

The boy was 12 when he met the substitute teacher during a summer production of Bye Bye Birdie at Winston Elementary School.

Now 16, he told a Broward jury Tuesday how swims in Barry Alyn's pool quickly progressed to Alyn changing clothes in front of him, followed by inappropriate touching that grew more and more intimate.

"Guys do this kind of stuff. It's natural," the boy said Alyn told him. "I was 12, I didn't understand."

Barry Alyn, 62, of Coconut Creek, is charged with six counts, ranging from lewd and lascivious battery to molestation and exhibition. He faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for each count.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not naming the victim because of the nature of the alleged crime.

Prosecutor Dennis Siegel portrayed Alyn as a man who worked his way into the boy's household -- attending church with the boy's mother, eating holiday dinners with the family, tutoring the boy when his grades fell -- all as a guise to feed his "obsessive sexual interest."

The boy came forward six months later, after struggling with nightmares and "troubling thoughts," Siegel said.

He waited because he was ashamed, worried that his dad might think less of him, and although Alyn never threatened him, he feared Alyn would come after him if he told.

"All these thoughts were swirling around in his 13-year-old mind," Siegel said in his opening statement.

Defense attorney Evan Baron said Alyn was a gentleman, a caring person who sought to nurture a young life, not manipulate or target anyone.

"[Alyn is] guilty of misjudgment, guilty of perhaps overstepping his bounds, guilty of perhaps caring too much and trying to make a difference in a child's life," Baron said.

There was no physical proof of sexual molestation, he said, other than the victim's testimony.

The allegations of sexual misconduct didn't arise, Baron said, until the boy "became more attached to Barry than he did to his own parents" and they began to feel that Alyn was undermining their authority.

The boy, slightly built and wearing a black polo shirt, testified almost inaudibly Tuesday.

He told jurors how Alyn bought him a cell phone against his parents' wishes.

"So I could keep in contact with him," said the boy, who now lives in New Jersey. "He just told me not to tell."

He said he used computer games and skateboarding to take his mind off Alyn's behavior.